Top 100 undergrad CS by US News

[Anonymous]

PP here. My point on this thread all along is not that elite schools don't matter, but they are not be all and end all, that other schools can provide a stepping stone from where they can get to same place as those who go to elite schools. Sometimes that road is harder, it may take going for an advanced degree, and/or additional self learning. One of my heroes in computing, Jim Gosling who created Java programming language, went to Univ of Calgary for this BS, ranked #200+ in world and 9th in Canada, then went on to do MS/PhD at CMU. According to some posters on this thread, Jim Gosling couldn't get into an elite school for his BS, so he had no talent and were doomed to work at the bottom of the pile. There are a number of reasons why some kids attend the schools they end up at, not all of them are related to their individual ability. This forum may be is an echo chamber of folks who are prestige hunters, that doesn't care for these nuances. I am out of this thread in the event no one really is interested in these points. You can all continue prestige hunting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. My point on this thread all along is not that elite schools don't matter, but they are not be all and end all, that other schools can provide a stepping stone from where they can get to same place as those who go to elite schools. Sometimes that road is harder, it may take going for an advanced degree, and/or additional self learning. One of my heroes in computing, Jim Gosling who created Java programming language, went to Univ of Calgary for this BS, ranked #200+ in world and 9th in Canada, then went on to do MS/PhD at CMU. According to some posters on this thread, Jim Gosling couldn't get into an elite school for his BS, so he had no talent and were doomed to work at the bottom of the pile. There are a number of reasons why some kids attend the schools they end up at, not all of them are related to their individual ability. This forum may be is an echo chamber of folks who are prestige hunters, that doesn't care for these nuances. I am out of this thread in the event no one really is interested in these points. You can all continue prestige hunting.

You make good points, but Gosling did choose CMU for grad school for a reason. No single school/career choice is the end-all, but I think the opportunity to surround yourself with other brilliant/motivated students is worth more than just a $ sign associated with a starter job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP here. My point on this thread all along is not that elite schools don't matter, but they are not be all and end all, that other schools can provide a stepping stone from where they can get to same place as those who go to elite schools. Sometimes that road is harder, it may take going for an advanced degree, and/or additional self learning. One of my heroes in computing, Jim Gosling who created Java programming language, went to Univ of Calgary for this BS, ranked #200+ in world and 9th in Canada, then went on to do MS/PhD at CMU. According to some posters on this thread, Jim Gosling couldn't get into an elite school for his BS, so he had no talent and were doomed to work at the bottom of the pile. There are a number of reasons why some kids attend the schools they end up at, not all of them are related to their individual ability. This forum may be is an echo chamber of folks who are prestige hunters, that doesn't care for these nuances. I am out of this thread in the event no one really is interested in these points. You can all continue prestige hunting.

I am not sure what your point is. James Gosling got his PhD in CS from CMU. He is a graduate of an elite CS program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here. My point on this thread all along is not that elite schools don't matter, but they are not be all and end all, that other schools can provide a stepping stone from where they can get to same place as those who go to elite schools. Sometimes that road is harder, it may take going for an advanced degree, and/or additional self learning. One of my heroes in computing, Jim Gosling who created Java programming language, went to Univ of Calgary for this BS, ranked #200+ in world and 9th in Canada, then went on to do MS/PhD at CMU. According to some posters on this thread, Jim Gosling couldn't get into an elite school for his BS, so he had no talent and were doomed to work at the bottom of the pile. There are a number of reasons why some kids attend the schools they end up at, not all of them are related to their individual ability. This forum may be is an echo chamber of folks who are prestige hunters, that doesn't care for these nuances. I am out of this thread in the event no one really is interested in these points. You can all continue prestige hunting.

I am not sure what your point is. James Gosling got his PhD in CS from CMU. He is a graduate of an elite CS program.

Point is he started his BS at a lesser known university, according to some posters here it's a sign of student not being capable if they can't get into UVA, by the same logic Gosling couldn't get into Toronto the top school in Canada, instead he got into much lower ranked Calgary. If he was capable why couldn't he get into Toronto or any other ranked school above Calgary. I know this is a ridiculous argument, that's my point. Undergrad admissions are sometimes hard to get into elite schools, and not always indicative of what the student may do in future, they may end up going to MIT for PhD and invent the next big thing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP here. My point on this thread all along is not that elite schools don't matter, but they are not be all and end all, that other schools can provide a stepping stone from where they can get to same place as those who go to elite schools. Sometimes that road is harder, it may take going for an advanced degree, and/or additional self learning. One of my heroes in computing, Jim Gosling who created Java programming language, went to Univ of Calgary for this BS, ranked #200+ in world and 9th in Canada, then went on to do MS/PhD at CMU. According to some posters on this thread, Jim Gosling couldn't get into an elite school for his BS, so he had no talent and were doomed to work at the bottom of the pile. There are a number of reasons why some kids attend the schools they end up at, not all of them are related to their individual ability. This forum may be is an echo chamber of folks who are prestige hunters, that doesn't care for these nuances. I am out of this thread in the event no one really is interested in these points. You can all continue prestige hunting.

I am not sure what your point is. James Gosling got his PhD in CS from CMU. He is a graduate of an elite CS program.

Point is he started his BS at a lesser known university, according to some posters here it's a sign of student not being capable if they can't get into UVA, by the same logic Gosling couldn't get into Toronto the top school in Canada, instead he got into much lower ranked Calgary. If he was capable why couldn't he get into Toronto or any other ranked school above Calgary. I know this is a ridiculous argument, that's my point. Undergrad admissions are sometimes hard to get into elite schools, and not always indicative of what the student may do in future, they may end up going to MIT for PhD and invent the next big thing.

Where are the posters claiming you can't excel coming from a non-MIT/CMU level undergrad in CS? I don't see any.

[Anonymous]

By the time someone is ready to get 400k the work experience and degree matters not where you went to school. I was discussing this with MIT graduated senior manager and he/she said usually they prefer not big school as some of the kids are snobs. Might be one individual opinion.

Wrong. There are students graduating from Stanford next month with an undergrad degree in CS that have accepted job offers making $400K. The interview process for these jobs was brutal, but the starting salaries are incredible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
By the time someone is ready to get 400k the work experience and degree matters not where you went to school. I was discussing this with MIT graduated senior manager and he/she said usually they prefer not big school as some of the kids are snobs. Might be one individual opinion.

Wrong. There are students graduating from Stanford next month with an undergrad degree in CS that have accepted job offers making $400K. The interview process for these jobs was brutal, but the starting salaries are incredible.

Source? Link?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
By the time someone is ready to get 400k the work experience and degree matters not where you went to school. I was discussing this with MIT graduated senior manager and he/she said usually they prefer not big school as some of the kids are snobs. Might be one individual opinion.

Wrong. There are students graduating from Stanford next month with an undergrad degree in CS that have accepted job offers making $400K. The interview process for these jobs was brutal, but the starting salaries are incredible.

Who cares? Are those students going to be significantly happier or more fullfilled than they would have been if they had attended a different school, or chosen a different career?

[Anonymous]

The point is that technology has never been driven by prestige, it has always been driven by innovation. Google, Microsoft, Apple were co-founded by state university graduates. This year another internet company founded by a local state university graduate, squarespace, will undergo IPO, likely making the founder a multi-billionaire.

However, many people from dmv believe otherwise. These people desperately try to instill a hierarchy into the IT scene.They want to transplant their concept and experience of prestige in the law, lobby, and consulting into the technology industry. They make a few data point of a few graduates from elite private to support their cause. Never-mind that these jobs are in trading business that the motto is you eat what you kill, and is not pure technology.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
By the time someone is ready to get 400k the work experience and degree matters not where you went to school. I was discussing this with MIT graduated senior manager and he/she said usually they prefer not big school as some of the kids are snobs. Might be one individual opinion.

Wrong. There are students graduating from Stanford next month with an undergrad degree in CS that have accepted job offers making $400K. The interview process for these jobs was brutal, but the starting salaries are incredible.

Who cares? Are those students going to be significantly happier or more fullfilled than they would have been if they had attended a different school, or chosen a different career?

You’re not getting it. Money is everything in DCUM. Happiness is for hippies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The point is that technology has never been driven by prestige, it has always been driven by innovation. Google, Microsoft, Apple were co-founded by state university graduates. This year another internet company founded by a local state university graduate, squarespace, will undergo IPO, likely making the founder a multi-billionaire.

However, many people from dmv believe otherwise. These people desperately try to instill a hierarchy into the IT scene. They want to transplant their concept and experience of prestige in the law, lobby, and consulting into the technology industry. They make a few data point of a few graduates from elite private to support their cause. Never-mind that these jobs are in trading business that the motto is you eat what you kill, and is not pure technology.

You hit the bulls eye. This is the crux of the matter on almost all discussions on DCUM, which may be heavily skewed by folks in law, lobby, and business, where the school name and prestige determines outcomes, where state schools are looked down upon, there is a hierarchy. In some ways even in Medicine school name carries a certain weight throughout your career, a Harvard med school doctor will always carry that with them, just like a Harvard lawyer or b-school major. Lesser known state school grads in law, business, education, and medicine will have difficulty breaking down that glass ceiling. However, Tech is all about shattering norms. Tech is all about triumph of the rebels, many of the innovators are in fact those who do not conform to a hierarchy, it is true though most of them ends up in elite schools at some point, and that's just because for the research opportunity and peer groups, but Tech doesn't care at all, when you are in a room full of engineers trying to solve problem. No one actually cares if you went to MIT or U. Alabama 15 years after you graduate in Tech, unlike those other professions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
By the time someone is ready to get 400k the work experience and degree matters not where you went to school. I was discussing this with MIT graduated senior manager and he/she said usually they prefer not big school as some of the kids are snobs. Might be one individual opinion.

Wrong. There are students graduating from Stanford next month with an undergrad degree in CS that have accepted job offers making $400K. The interview process for these jobs was brutal, but the starting salaries are incredible.

Who cares? Are those students going to be significantly happier or more fullfilled than they would have been if they had attended a different school, or chosen a different career?
Sour grapes truly believe homeless guys are happier than everyone else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
By the time someone is ready to get 400k the work experience and degree matters not where you went to school. I was discussing this with MIT graduated senior manager and he/she said usually they prefer not big school as some of the kids are snobs. Might be one individual opinion.

Yes, your imaginary MIT graduated senior manager was right in that not a lot of top school graduates actually considered your lowly place seriously because they had much better options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The point is that technology has never been driven by prestige, it has always been driven by innovation. Google, Microsoft, Apple were co-founded by state university graduates. This year another internet company founded by a local state university graduate, squarespace, will undergo IPO, likely making the founder a multi-billionaire.

However, many people from dmv believe otherwise. These people desperately try to instill a hierarchy into the IT scene.They want to transplant their concept and experience of prestige in the law, lobby, and consulting into the technology industry. They make a few data point of a few graduates from elite private to support their cause. Never-mind that these jobs are in trading business that the motto is you eat what you kill, and is not pure technology.

No one is talking down state universities - everyone knows that Berkeley, Georgia Tech, UIUC and U Washington are top schools for CS

The question is whether students at these top public’s get the same top opportunities at Michigan Technological. Right out of school? They don’t. Later down their career with experience, they definitely may, but these top job opportunities rolls over later in life into greater opportunities as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The point is that technology has never been driven by prestige, it has always been driven by innovation. Google, Microsoft, Apple were co-founded by state university graduates. This year another internet company founded by a local state university graduate, squarespace, will undergo IPO, likely making the founder a multi-billionaire.

However, many people from dmv believe otherwise. These people desperately try to instill a hierarchy into the IT scene.They want to transplant their concept and experience of prestige in the law, lobby, and consulting into the technology industry. They make a few data point of a few graduates from elite private to support their cause. Never-mind that these jobs are in trading business that the motto is you eat what you kill, and is not pure technology.

No one is talking down state universities - everyone knows that Berkeley, Georgia Tech, UIUC and U Washington are top schools for CS

The question is whether students at these top public’s get the same top opportunities at Michigan Technological. Right out of school? They don’t. Later down their career with experience, they definitely may, but these top job opportunities rolls over later in life into greater opportunities as well.

What is a "top" opportunity in CS according to you, since you keep referring to these top opportunities. Working for IBM was the top opportunity in CS in the 70's and 80's, and in the 90's it was Microsoft, late 90's it was any "dot coms", in 2000's no one wanted tech, big layoffs everywhere and salary cuts, working in IT for financial services or government contracting were safest, in 2010's it is the FAANGs, is it still going to be same when the class of 2022 to 2030 graduates? If there is one thing in Tech, it is constant change, what is top today is not top 10 years from now. I can bet you FAANG will not be top CS in 2040. A CS student should anchor themselves to their capabilities and ready to re-invent, not moored to the top CS job today.